Don Reeverts, executive director of the Denver Leadership Foundation, and L. Shawn DeBerry of the Family and Senior Homeless Initiative. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post)

As part of a season-long celebration marking the 120th anniversary of Elitch Gardens, the theme park’s management hosted a reception in the Trocadero Ballroom to honor two nonprofit organizations that reflect the park’s family- and faith-based values.

PARC Management and its philanthropic arm, the PARC Foundation, presented the first Heart of Denver awards to the Family and Senior Homeless Initiative, part of Denver’s Road Home, Mayor John Hickenlooper’s ambitious 10-year drive to end homelessness, and Denver Children’s Home, which was established in 1876 and is believed to be the first nonprofit organization to be formed in Colorado.

The awards were presented by PARC Management’s chief strategy officer, Gwen Griggs, following remarks by Hickenlooper and Randy Drew, president and CEO of PARC Management and chairman of the PARC Foundation.

The Family and Senior Homeless Initiative was described as the faith community’s answer to Hickenlooper’s call for 1,000 congregations to embrace and mentor 1,000 homeless families. Currently, 290 congregations are participating and have reached out to 721 families and seniors in the metro area.

Denver Children’s Home was started by the Ladies Relief Society to care for orphans; today it serves children who struggle with the effects of poverty, abuse, neglect and exposure to violence by providing a safe, therapeutic environment for them. An average of 100 children and families are seen there every day.